Ken steals the spotlight from Barbie at his New York Fashion Week celebration last night

Adam Robb/NJ.comA Ken doll dressed in Michael Bastian wears his heart and his name on his cashmere sleeve at last night's Ken presentation at Christie's New York auction house.

When I first took a professional interest in this industry, sixteen fashion weeks or eight human years ago, Barbie played a prominent role. So I was surprised it took until 2011 for New York Fashion Week to honor Ken, but it happened at last, last night, when Mattel and the CFDA celebrated Barbie's "first man" at Christie's Auction House.

First, a little back story.

It was July 2002 when I first spotted Kate Moss on the cover of i-D magazine wearing not much more than an olive drab army coat, the words "God Save The Queen" silkscreened on the back. Passing over the picture and to the credits I learned the jacket was a limited edition produced in a small quantity by Doc Martens for some anniversary or celebration.

Sure I could have made my own, gone to the Army Navy, Pearl Paint, then be done with it, but I loved the chase.

View full sizeAdam Robb/NJ.comDJ Paul Sevigny looked most like a Ken doll while spinning records at last night's party.

It made sense then such a pursuit would take me to a website called BeingHunted, one of the few street fashion blogs at the time, which alerted me to a new pop-up shop, Vacant, opening next Fashion Week, Februrary 2003, in SoHo. There was no address or contact info to go on, just a splash page hinting at a few items they'd be stocking, but among them hanged that Doc Martens jacket, its back facing out from over a form.

As the scaffolding rose for the Bryant Park tents that winter, I'd pass Vacant's Mercer St space downtown daily wondering when it would open, if the gate was halfway up or down as boxes began to appear stacked then unpacked inside.

View full sizeAdam Robb/NJ.comPink drinks and doll-sized bites were served on napkins highlighting the history of Ken's molded hair.

When it finally looked like I could step inside without first crawling beneath the low metal fencing, I introduced myself to the storekeepers, Russ and Mariko, fielded questions from a Bergen Record reporter present, and despite leaving without the jacket - it wouldn't be there for another week - I walked out with an internship.

A few days later, Keanan Duffty, the Slinky Vagabond designer, walked in.

I was a huge fan of Keanan's designs after seeing his punk-inspired runway show - bright tartans and bondage trousers - played ad infinitum on Full Frontal Fashion the year before, so I was excited to meet him, excited to introduce myself - to talk music and fashion like any style obsessive in my place would - but he passed right by.

View full sizeAdam Robb/NJ.comKen dolls come in all colors as this Nicholas K model demonstrated in a leather duster ready to take Barbie to a concert.

He was there with a singular purpose, to oversee plans for his own NYFW presentation a few days away in this very shop!

Foiled, but no less determined to make my presence known, I ran out to Atrium during lunch and, eureka on the sale rack, I found a sweater, a knit silhouette of David Bowie, from that same past show I suffered Judy Licht and Robert Verdi to watch over and over again.

Shortly after I shopped and changed he saw the sweater, he saw me, and by the end of the week I had a new purpose.

The glass cases along the shop walls were packed with Barbies and Sid Vicious dolls - Ken got no respect back then - in full hair and make-up, dressed in Kenan's fall designs. PR interns set up folding chairs for press and buyers and once arrived they'd watch a film the designer produced, the dolls mock-strutting down a conveyor belt to the soundtrack of 2 Many DJs.

All I had to do was stop and start the music, control the volume.

View full sizeAdam Robb/NJ.comHallway walls were papered to explain the personality behind Ken's hair through the ages.

Suddenly the sweater meant a lot more to me than the Doc Martens jacket did. By the time the coat was in stock and a bored Japanese model wedged through the cigarette smoke of hundreds of revelers lured out in a blizzard by the promise of free gin and Red Bull and Zima, we were over it.

The Bowie sweater meant so much more. It may be the only time Barbie ever triumphed over Kate Moss.

But now, back to Ken, poor Ken, a footnote in his own story. Present day, last night, Christie's Auction House, Rockefeller Center.

View full sizeAdam Robb/NJ.comDesigner Michael Bastian's Ken doll was the most classic Ken in the room in a cashmere sweater and packing a picnic basket.

Still sick from some ill-conceived pre-NYFW partying, I slept through Sunday's shows to witness how six menswear designers - Yigal Azrouel, Billy Reid, Robert Geller, Nicholas K, Michael Bastian and Simon Spurr - remodeled Mattel's most popular beta male.

There were no dolls in glass cases but fully grown men - albeit with a bit of a plastic sheen - standing on pedestals, name tags dangling from their wrists, each ready to greet Barbie with a different offering - concert tickets, a picnic basket, Godiva chocolates - all waiting in vain for a themed dream date with the iconically tip-toed no-show.

I admired every last Ken's valiant efforts but it couldn't have been a surprise to them eight years after Barbie was spotted with Sid that a straight-laced doll in a double-breasted cardigan and bubble toe wingtips just doesn't do it for her anymore.